This invention relates in general to golf putters and in particular to such putters which are arranged with weighting forward of the ball-striking surface.
Golf putters represent a field of art which has received many innovations, some of which are scientifically well founded, others of which may be considered more psychological. However, whether the innovations are beneficial to one's game because they are scientifically sound or because the golfer's confidence is enhanced, the value of a golf putter is often measured by results. While this generally depicts the proper picture, innovations which are scientifically sound are still preferred over purely psychological innovations because scientific innovations are more universally applicable to a wide range of golfers, whether or not the golfer actually realizes that scientific principles are at work assisting him in his game. For example, a golf putter which is scientifically balanced to help produce a true pendulum swing is an advantage regardless of the golfer's particular style or preference or awareness of such a factor. With this general picture in mind, the following listed patents provide a sampling of various golf putter designs which have been conceived.
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Patentee Issue Date ______________________________________ 3,758,115 Hoglund 9/11/73 3,448,981 Anweiler 6/10/69 Des. 223,031 Ernst 2/29/72 3,085,804 Pieper 4/16/63 Des. 213,507 Koenig 3/11/69 1,250,296 Fitzjohn et al. 12/18/17 Des. 246,329 Little 11/08/77 3,064,975 Smith 11/20/62 Des. 235,568 Cook 6/24/75 ______________________________________
Also to be included with this listing of conceived designs is the disclosure of "The Arrowhead" which appeared in the Jan. 4, 1972 issue of Golf World.
Hoglund discloses a golf putter in which there is an enlarged elongated body and a transverse planar head which are connected together by a narrow neck portion. The weight of the putter is balanced between the front and rear of the shaft connection as well as laterally of the shaft connection and the shaft is connected to the top surface of the golf putter substantially near the center of gravity of the putter.
Anweiler discloses a golf club which includes a shaft, a head and a shank portion. The head has a dimension measured rearwardly of and perpendicular to the striking surface, which is less than the horizontally disposed dimension between the opposite boundary of the striking surface when the head is in a ball-striking position.
Ernst discloses a golf putter head in which the shaft is connected to the club head by means of a triangular neck portion which is open internally. The configuration of this neck portion is such that one side of the triangle connects between one end of the clubhead and the shaft, another side of the triangle connects between the opposite end of the clubhead and the shaft and the third side of the triangle is provided by the top surface of the clubhead itself.
Pieper discloses a golf putter wherein the head is configured with a long, uniform, straight-sided top surface divided into two slightly divergent planes intersecting each other substantially centrally of the length thereof in a line at right angles to the length of the putter. The ball-striking side faces of the putter are planform and symmetrical and converge slightly toward the lower edge of the clubhead in order to provide a negative loft and produce slight overspin on a golf ball when struck by the golf putter.
Koenig discloses a golf putter head in which the club shaft is secured to the top surface of a rearwardly protruding portion behind the ball-striking surface of the clubhead. The rearwardly protruding portion is straight-sided, although tapered, and is centrally disposed between the upper and lower surfaces of the clubhead as well as the outermost ends of the clubhead.
Fitzjohn et al. discloses a golf club in which the neck portion is integral with the rear of the clubhead and curves rearwardly and upwardly therefrom with a particular curvature style. A stated object of this invention is to establish a particular relationship between the head and the handle of the golf club such that when the club is held in a striking position, the head will automatically be balanced or will adjust itself into a proper position for striking the ball squarely.
Little discloses a golf putter head in which the neck portion connecting the clubhead to the shaft is secured to the clubhead at one corner of its upper surface and extends forward and upward from this point of connection. The ball-striking surface is provided with a mesh-like series of grooves and the rear portion of the clubhead is completely hollow, enclosed only by a relatively thin portion of the top surface of the clubhead and an equally thin bottom portion which extends upwardly as it extends rearwardly from the ball-striking surface.
Smith discloses a golf club putter whose lower surface and general contour are arranged to provide a nonscuff putter. The putter includes a flat ball-striking blade which is supported by a nonscuff shoe and the latter holds the blade in an elevated position so that the bottom of the blade is spaced above the bottom of the shoe. This arrangement spaces the blade bottom above the playing surface on which the golf ball rests when the shoe bottom contacts with the playing surface.
Cook discloses a golf putter head design which is slotted in a variety of different arrangements, although the overall configuration is that of a conventional golf putter.
The "Arrowhead" golf putter includes an arrangement which provides center shafting, back shafting and a rocker bottom in order to help prevent scuffing against the green. The center shafting feature provides a certain degree of static weight balance between the inside and outside edges of the clubhead. The back shafting is intended to produce more overspin.
One very definite aspect of each of these designs, with the exception of Anweiler, is that the clubhead surface which contacts the golf ball is the forwardmost surface of the club. Thus, the mass of the clubhead which helps provide driving momentum to the golf ball is disposed behind this ball-striking surface. Similarly, with each disclosed design, while the clubhead may take on a variety of shapes and styles, the neck portion which connects the clubhead to the shaft is typically a tube-like member. This is true for the listed references including the Anweiler patent as well as for all other putters of which the inventor is aware. Although the neck portion may be variously bent in order to connect between its point of attachment to the clubhead and the distal end of the shaft, it commonly has a generally circular lateral cross section. The neck portion of the mentioned golf putter designs is only used as a connecting link between the clubhead and the shaft and does not provide any other benefits or improvements to the golf putter, either scientific in nature or psychological in nature.
If a golf putter could be designed to utilize the neck portion for purposes other than merely a point-to-point connection, then various-styled putters could be improved without the necessity to alter the basic concepts embodied in the clubhead design. This would enable golfers who have a preferred clubhead style to retain this style yet achieve added benefits by only a modification to the neck portion. Consider, for example, the addition of weight to the neck portion so that the club-to-ball transfer of momentum can be increased without having to modify clubhead design or increase the speed of the stroke. By selectively shaping this added weight, it can be arranged as a forward-pointing protuberance, possibly wedge or arrowhead shaped, which can serve as an alignment aid as well as provide greater overall balance to the golf club. Furthermore, by positioning this added weight, or at least a majority of it, forward of the ball-striking surface of the clubhead, the clubhead is pulled as well as pushed through the stroke thereby reducing the chances of a mis-hit or twisting of the clubhead.
It would also be an improvement to golf putter designs to configure the clubhead in such a manner that virtually the full surface area of the ball-striking surface would be suitable for a true and accurate shot yet provide a different "feel" depending on the point of impact. For example, by contouring or recessing the rear surface of the clubhead at various locations, the ball-striking surface produces different "feels" to the golfer depending on where the golf ball meets the ball-striking surface, and thus the golfer is able to select the particular point of impact which best suits his golfing (putting) preferences.
The golf putter invention disclosed herein is provided with such a forward-weighted neck portion and with such clubhead balance and contouring in order to achieve the mentioned advantages as well as other advantages which will become apparent from the descriptions which follow.